It's not ALL about the Dolphins

While marine biology is not all about dolphins, they certainly make the job fun!  We started our first day at Kure Atoll accompanied by a pod of dolphins playing in the bow wake of our small boat.  They stayed with us for part of our transit, but then left us alone for the rest of the day.  At the end of our fourth dive, we were on our safety stop and started to hear the high pitched sonar pings of dolphins in the area.  We were in a current that was moving us into deep water and by the time it was time to surface, we still hadn't seen them.  We were peering into blue water, circling as we went to the surface, when the first set of four swam by without a second glance.  Luckily we had plenty of air in our tanks because we spent the next 20 minutes surrounded by Spinner Dolphins.  These are one of the most acrobatic species, jumping and spinning into the air.  In the water, many were graceful and peaceful, while others were darting in and out amongst the small groups.  It was an amazing thing to see and is definitely one of the highlights of this cruise.  It was only my third time seeing dolphins while diving and I've never seen them this close or in these numbers.  There were at least 40 individuals swimming by.  Once we surfaced, the pod stayed near the small boat and we counted at least 80 in the surrounding waters.  Incredible.


I hope you are having a wonderful evening.
Take care and good night,

CR